Blogpoll Roundtable No. 7

I am hosting the blogpoll roundtable this week. We’ve covered almost every aspect of our teams so I thought it was time to turn our attention to the media.

Last week Trev Alberts made one of the all-time bonehead moves by getting fired by ESPN. Not surprisingly, college football fans and bloggers showed the little sympathy for the former first-round bust. Trev’s self-important style and often misinformed opinions built up heaps of animosity among regular viewers of ESPN’s college coverage. Plus Albert’s departure means more TV time for a real journalist like Nick Lachey! So with this in mind, I thought it was time to focus on the talking heads you love and the ones you love to hate.

1. What member of the mainstream sports media (preferably one who covers college sports) makes your skin crawl, blood boil, forces you to change the channel or hit mute? Why?

2. What writer, broadcaster, show, website etc. deserves more recognition? Who is someone we should all be reading, watching or listening to?

Post your answers below in the comments section or link the URL to your responses on your own blog. I’ll post my answers later today and put together a roundup later in the week.

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EDITED TO ADD MY OWN RESPONSES

1. Mark Blaudschun covers college sports for the Boston Globe. Fortunately for BC fans he is not the paper’s BC beat writer. But as the main college guy for one of the nation’s most prestigious sports sections, he gets plenty of space to spread misinformation and his distaste for the hometown Eagles. Taking shots at the locals is nothing new for the Boston media, but Blaudschun shoddy reporting and hack opinions reached a breaking point for me during the ACC move. The move deserved debate and coverage, but Blowhard filled his work with anonymous quotes from his old school Big East buddies that amounted to a series of low blows on BC’s rep, history, athletic department potential, fans, and of course the Catholic Church. He gave merit to most of the ridiculous talking points that the Big East floated while never mentioning that every snubbed member of the conference would gladly have bolted to the ACC (unfortunately for those schools, they didn’t bring much to the table). His implausible opinions didn't pass the sniff test with even the average college fan. Yet this man is still employed and by all reports is unapologetic about his poor reporting. There are a lot of things to be excited about this Saturday’s primetime ACC debut against a national power (with College Gameday on campus). I hope Blaudschun has a good seat for a game he thought would never happen, that BC never deserved and that no one would ever care about.

2. Being the voice of a team can be a delicate balance. Root too much and people call you a homer. If you’re too critical you won’t last long at the school. Georgia Tech’s play-by-play man Wes Durham does it better than most. He’s got a great voice, calls a good game, has a passion for the sport, incorporates his excellent knowledge of history of the game and has the right perspective on the team. I never missed his and Tony Barnhart’s old Southern Football Kickoff Show on 790 The Zone. Wes even handles the thankless coach’s show without pissing off Chan Gailey or disappointing frustrated Tech fans. BC’s radio network churns play-by-play guys about every three season. I hope one of these days they stumble upon a guy like Wes to serve as the voice of Boston College.